Investigator: Mom tells of methodical drownings

Yates appears before judge this morning

Published 5:30 am, Friday, June 22, 2001

In what a police investigator described Thursday as a "zombie-like fashion," Andrea Pia Yates, who appeared in court this morning, told police how she methodically drowned her five children one by one in a bathtub, then carried four of the limp little bodies to a bedroom and wrapped them in a sheet.

As the 6-month-old baby, Mary, was the fourth to be drowned Wednesday, the eldest son, 7-year-old Noah, came into the bathroom.

"What's wrong with Mary?" the boy asked, according to a police officer who watched Yates' nightmarish audiotaped statement. The officer spoke to the Houston Chronicle on condition of anonymity.

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The boy then bolted, the mother recalled, only to be dragged back to the bathroom to meet the same fate as his four siblings.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office said late Thursday that the five children died of asphyxia from drowning.

Yates, dressed in an orange jail uniform, appeared calm and answered "Yes, ma'am," and "No, ma'am" as 230th District Court Judge Belinda Hill questioned her as to whether she understood the charges against her.

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Yates is so far charged with capital murder in the deaths of sons Noah and John.

Harris County District Attorney's Office prosecutor Joe Owmby said this morning his office has not yet decided on how many other charges will be filed against Yates.

"We'll be reviewing police files, meeting with investigators, and making decisions on what exactly to charge," Owmby said. "We'll be preparing, as always, for an eventual trial, whether there is one or not."

Yates told the judge she could not afford an attorney, and Hill appointed defense lawyer Bob Scott to represent the woman.

Scott met with his new client for about 10 minutes after the hearing this morning, and asked Hill to issue a gag order in the case. Hill said she would rule on that request at a later date.

Owmby said the case has been reset, but no date has yet been selected. The case will be presented to a grand jury within 30 days, he said.

Owmby, a 15-year prosecutor, said, "This is the most horrendous thing I have ever seen."

On Thursday, Yates' husband, NASA engineer Russell Yates, expressed unwavering support for his wife at a news conference in front of the family's house.

He said her severe depression, which spiked after the birth of each child, led to the horrific killings.

Standing outside his middle-class home, Yates, 36, professed love and support for his wife of eight years -- who could face the death penalty.

"It's hard. On one hand, she killed our children," he said while clutching a family photograph. "On the other hand, I know the woman here (in the picture) is not the woman who killed my children."

But Andrea Yates, also 36, is scheduled for arraignment early today on a charge of capital murder. The hearing will be in the old Harris County Courthouse while the new Criminal Justice Center undergoes repairs from recent flooding.

Andrea Yates told police that 2-year-old Luke was the first child to be drowned, the investigator said. Following Luke to his death were Paul, 3, then 5-year-old John.

After each child died, Yates recounted on the videotape, she carried their bodies into a bedroom, put them on a bed and covered them with a sheet.

The former registered nurse said she then placed Mary, the youngest child, into the tub, the investigator said. That was when Noah interrupted her.

Yates told police her son ran when she rose from the tub. She recalled chasing him through the house and dragging him back to the bathroom, where she drowned him alongside his sister, the investigator said.

The infant's body was then placed on the bed along with three of her brothers. However, Yates left Noah's body in the bathtub before calling police and her husband, investigators said.

When she called her husband at the Johnson Space Center, she told him that he needed to come home immediately.

Russell Yates asked his wife if anyone was hurt.

"Yes ... the children," he said she replied. "All of them."

Russell Yates said his wife suffered bouts of depression after the birth of their 2-year-old son but had responded well to medication.

"It took awhile, but she snapped out of it," he said. "She was herself again. That was a couple of years ago. She was fine from that time on."

Russell Yates' mother, Dora, said she fully agreed with his sympathetic portrayal of his wife.

"Andrea is a beautiful person, and it is very shocking to all of us," she said.

Andrea Yates' father died about three months ago, a blow that Russell Yates said sent her into a downward spiral from which she apparently never recovered.

"She was just primed for that depression," he said. "We were all hopeful she'd respond to the same medication she did the first time. She got to about 65 percent (recovery) and just stayed there. She plateaued."

Authorities said she summoned police to the home in the 900 block of Beachcomber by asking for a "welfare check," a routine request for a patrol officer to visit them.

When Russell Yates received his wife's call at work, "My heart just sank," he said, barely holding back tears.

As homicide investigators continued canvassing the neighborhood for clues, a small mountain of flowers and stuffed animals began growing in the family's front yard.

Russell Yates said his wife home-schooled the children as well as cared for them.

She would spend a few hours every morning going through a "normal curriculum," he said.

"I thought it was going pretty well. I'm not saying it was not stressful. It was manageable. She couldn't do it while she was depressed, but ordinarily," he said.

The children's schooling included a study program that allowed all but the youngest child to participate. Their studies included math and phonics. His two oldest children, he said, could read.

Friends and acquaintances also said the mother who drowned her five children was not the Andrea Yates they knew.

"I've heard people talk about her like she was a monster. She was a totally delightful woman," said Terry Arnold, co-owner of a home-school bookstore in southeast Houston.

"They were the most beautiful children and very well-behaved. It is just really shocking," Arnold said. "She must have had incredible mental demons to have this happen. This is definitely not the woman we saw in our store."

Yates, she said, would visit the HEP Bookstore almost weekly with her five children in tow.

"This is someone you would never, ever think would do this," Arnold said.

To Arnold and business partner Joanne Juren, Andrea Yates showed no signs of depression. Yates last visited their store about two weeks ago.

"She was always very upbeat, and when she mentioned her husband it was with great affection," Arnold said. "She was very gentle with the children. I was very annoyed when I heard someone on the radio say, `Five kids would make anyone go crazy.'

"They were wonderful. I don't want anything being blamed on those children. They were really wonderful children. Everything we ever saw was affectionate and loving."

Added Juren, "She was just so loving and sweet. She loved her children."

Andrea Yates, Arnold and Juren said, recently had affiliated with the Sagemont Home School Support Group.

A woman at the home of Andrea Yates' mother in southeast Houston, who identified herself as a relative, said the family was inside and declined to comment. Another person there, who didn't identify himself, said they were meeting with a lawyer inside the house.

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Chronicle reporters Miriam Garcia and Lisa Teachey and The Associated Press contributed to this story.